ABILENE, TX (02.19.16) - An early offensive eruption and Lauren McLeod's third straight shutout in the circle led the UTD softball team to a 12-0 series-opening, "run rule" win over Hardin-Simmons in American Southwest Conference play Friday afternoon.

The fifth straight win for the Comets (5-4, 4-0 ASC) kept the team perfect in conference play while Hardin-Simmons (4-4, 0-4) dropped its fourth straight game. The two teams finish their series wtih an 11 am doubleheader Saturday.

McLeod (3-2) kept the Cowgirls off-balance, scattering five hits with five strikeouts in the shortened game. But it was the UTD offense that took control with a six-run 1st inning and never looked back.

The Comets pounded out 11 hits, five for extra bases. Stephanie Polderman led UTD with a 3-for-3 day at the plate, driving in three runs with a triple and adding four more stolen bases to her season total (9). Kendall Moore drove in four runs, going 2-for-3 at the plate and lacing a pair of doubles. Melissa Livermore was 2-for-4 with a pair of stolen bases while Sara Navarro, Aly Hudec and Sarah Morales all doubled as well.

UTD opened the floodgates with two outs in the 1st inning when Livermore came home on a wild pitch, and Moore followed with a bases-clearing double to centerfield after a pair of walks and a single.A walk and back-to-back errors ended the day for HSU starter Tori Rodriguez. With 12 hitters going to the plate, Taylor Ervin drove in the sixth run of the inning in her second trip.

The Comets added another two-out run in the 2nd when Polderman reached and stole two more bases before Moore delivered an RBI single to make it 7-0. Consecutive doubles from Hudec and Morales in the 4th - followed by another Polderman RBI - pushed two runs across. The Comets then got three more in the top of the 5th on an RBI double from Navarro and Polderman's 2-RBI triple.